I have just turned down opportunity to buy a nice car because it did not have AIRBAGS 95% of my travelling is open road 150k a day 100kph. Question is at 100kph does a AIRBAG make any difference to outcome, should a head on occur !
phillip.weston,
Apr 2, 8:58am
maybe if you had asked that question with another million questionmarks you will be sure to get a immediate answer.
phillip.weston,
Apr 2, 9:00am
but on a serious note, I think airbags (and ABS) are worthwhile safety features - having said that if you're driving something like a Daihatsu Mira or something equally small with not much to it, having airbags or not isn't the biggest issue you will be facing in a head on accident. If you are driving say a large Ford Falcon/Commodore/7 series BMW without airbags, it's still safer than being in a tiny car with air bags - just there's a higher chance of head/facial injuries.
What is the car in question by the way!
johnf_456,
Apr 2, 9:02am
You turned a car down based on that, if your that paranoid don't drive. The reality is you can be killed by anything in life and life is all about risk especially out on road. Personally I prefer my older cars.
smac,
Apr 2, 9:09am
toysky to answer your original question, yes they make a difference. A headon in a modern car with a good safety rating is frequently survivable. In a car old enough not to have the airbag, not so much.
This isn't just because of the bags, it's the fact that cars new enough to have them also have far better crumple zones, passenger compartment crush resistance and frontal impact behaviour.
phillip.weston,
Apr 2, 9:14am
thing is, a car having an 'air bag' doesn't instantly mean it's a modern car - even cars from 20 years ago had an air bag or two, but did not come with other safety features like advanced crumple zones which do well in offset crashes (back then their tests were just straight on into a wall), dynamic stability control etc. I have a '93 Honda Domani in my driveway at the moment with a drivers air bag, I still don't think it would be a safe car in a head on accident at open road speeds - it still doesn't even have ABS brakes.
johnf_456,
Apr 2, 9:16am
Yup air bags alone does not make anything safe, abs does not either (totally driver dependent).The trouble is with abs is it gives muppets the illusion they are safe and they drive like a moron because they have abs and stop easy enough.
toysky,
Apr 2, 9:29am
Car is a NISSAN SENTRA Q 1600 HATCHBACK 1994
toysky,
Apr 2, 9:33am
I drive at 100-105 kph its up to work 75k at 6pm back at 3am its trucks on narrow bridges that make you think.
johnf_456,
Apr 2, 9:35am
Just drive to work wearing a crash helmet if you're that paranoid and yes I am having a laugh.
kwaka5,
Apr 2, 9:42am
well what do you drive at the moment toysky and what sort of budget did you have in mind
toysky,
Apr 2, 9:44am
Johnf-456
toysky,
Apr 2, 9:52am
Just sold my tx3 1990looking at a sentra 3500
jezz43,
Apr 2, 10:24am
if your paranoid about trucks hitting you head on, and your driving a nissan sentra, at 100kph, i doubt it would make alot of difference. the truck would still go straight over the top of it
jsbike,
Apr 2, 10:29am
thats too much for a sentra anyway.
desertcolt07,
Apr 2, 10:32am
head on at 100kmh you aref$#ked!
thejazzpianoma,
Apr 2, 10:32am
For $3500 you can just aboutbuy a 2000 or newer Fiat Punto which will typically have 4 airbags, abs, pretensioners and most importantly a 4 1/2 star crash rating. Plus its going to cost you next to nothing to run, a manual one can easily do 4.5l/100km on the open road and the CVT is not much behind.
Its the crash rating that matters most, plenty of cars around with abs and airbags that collapse in a crash.
Also, in general bigger cars are safer BUT its a bit like the bigger cars cost more to run rule of thumb. Its only a vague guide as while the car has some physics on its side by default it still has to be designed to be safe. In other words plenty of big old cars out there that just collapse like paper mache in a crash.
Ideally you would go with something a bit bigger than the Punto for your use for safety reasons but at that price point it may be the best you can do in terms of actual safety for the dollar, plus the fuel saving is going to be massive.
If you can always watch the crash test video on the web for the particular car you are looking at. It will give you a good idea of what actually happens in a crash.
My other thoughts for your kind of running are perhaps a Volvo, plenty of cheap Volvo's come and go in your price range. You do need to be careful about picking the right one (come back for info on what to look for if you go down that track) but potentially they will also give you safety and good economy for your use.
vtecintegra,
Apr 2, 10:35am
Airbags or not an N14 or N15 Sentra doesn't have a particularly good crash structure.
Sounds like the last of the N14 models, even with an airbag it still isn't an overly safe car. I doubt it will have ABS brakes either.
zirconium,
Apr 2, 10:58am
For the sort of usage you describe, i'd want comfort, safety and eonomy. And aircon and a nice stereo. :) - Seriously, i'd be considering what Jazz suggests. :)
crzyhrse,
Apr 2, 10:59am
I'm the opposite: the less airbags, the better.
toysky,
Apr 2, 11:51am
ARE THE KS NOT TO HIGH!
phillip.weston,
Apr 2, 11:53am
WHY ARE YOU YELLING!
tradingfreak360,
Apr 2, 11:56am
Plus fckn one
toysky,
Apr 2, 11:57am
just keyboard----------341344398
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